The Dark Side
by supergirl4u
Summary: Not long after her long-term relationship with Colonel Lennox ends, Emma is thrust back into the war between the Autobots and Decepticons.  But when her past comes back to haunt her and her old friends, can she save them?  Terrible at summary, please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

_Just for starters...I do not own Transformers or any of the characters, including Colonel Lennox, Sam Witwicky, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, etc, etc. Second, Lennox was NEVER married or had a child. I do hope to tell the story of_ how _he and Emma first met and got involved at another time, but it is introduced in this story and this one was more heavily on my mind, so I had to tell it!_

_You all know my rules: the more you comment, the faster I update. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but if you have nothing nice to say, then please keep it to yourself._

_This is a somewhat short intro, but I hope you like it!_

The Dark Side

Chapter 1: The End

She was alone. Again. In the four years they had been together, the longest stretch of time he had been home was 4 months. He would leave for 1 week, or 2, or maybe even a month. She had gotten used to the drill. He would get a phone call, quietly excuse himself from whatever they were doing, pack a black duffel bag with a few items, give her a quick kiss and promises of he would be home soon, and be gone.

The waiting killed her. She never knew where he was, what kind of mission it was, how long he would be gone. If he would even come home. She couldn't let herself think of it, but she knew these were dangerous missions. There was always the chance the only thing that would return was a coffin.

Even when he was home, there was the constant fear of when he would be called out again. Every time the phone rang, her heart stopped.

It didn't used to be like this. What she did mattered to her and to other people. She was following her dream, traveling the world, working a fulfilling job as a civilian pharmacist on Air Forces bases all across the globe. Qatar was supposed to be a short stop for her. They needed someone to fill in just for a few months, and then she would be back to Italy. She never expected to meet the handsome, confident captain, and she certainly wasn't looking for love. But she found it there in the desert. Then the war between the Autobots and Decepticons came to their world, and everything changed.

Now nothing mattered. Nothing except the waiting.

* * *

><p>The apartment was nearly empty when he opened the front door. She sat in the middle of the floor, tracing the wood patterns with her finger.<p>

"What's going on?" the shock was evident in his voice.

She hated to do it this way. But she knew if all her things were still there when he got home that he would be able to talk her out of it. This was the only way.

She took a deep breath and stood up. "I'm sorry, Will…"

"You're leaving?" He dropped his duffel bag with a heavy thud. It echoed in the empty apartment. She finally got the nerve to lift her eyes to meet his. They were sad as they stared at her. More than sad. Heartbreaking. She could only nod her head.

"Why?"

The tears were coming now. She looked away, out the open window. Sunlight poured onto the hardwood floor and reflected off the white walls. A gentle breeze lifted the curtain. It was a beautiful spring day.

Words failed her. She focused on the window and desperately wiped the tears away, shaking her head.

"Emma, don't do this. Please, I love you." His voice was soft. He took a small step toward her.

"Love has never been the problem," she whispered.

Knowing there was nothing more she could say, she started to leave, brushing past him as she tried to reach the door. He gently grabbed her arm.

"Don't do this." His eyes were begging her. His one final plea. "Whatever it is that's wrong…whatever I did…I can fix it."

She slowly looked up at him. Into those eyes that had first attracted her to him. She still loved him. Of course she still loved him. And she held the Autobots dear to her heart. They were her good friends. Her resolve started to falter. All it would take is one step. One step and she would be back in his arms…and his phone rang. Her brain snapped back into control, and she was reminded of every reason why she was doing this. She took a step backwards. He sighed heavily and frantically tried to turn his phone off.

"You should get that," she said with a forced smile. "The world is waiting."

"Emma, wait!" he called after her, his voice desperate.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, never turning around, closing the door with a definitive thud behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

_Decided to go ahead and give you the next chapter since it gets a lot more into the story. Enjoy!_

Six months later

Sam Witwicky's job search had not been going so well. But finally it seemed like things were turning around for him. It was not an awesome job. He was certainly not out saving the world. But at least it was something.

After his parents dropped him off at his home and left to begin their tour of Washington DC, he couldn't wait to tell Carly. Thankfully his old Datsun started.

Although she had been working there for several months, this was the first time Sam had been to visit his girlfriend at the Gould Accounting Firm. As soon as he arrived there, though, he realized this was no ordinary business.

"Carly!" He called across the never-ending white room. The glass ceiling brought in the sun to light the space. Classic cars stood like statues everywhere. His girlfriend was standing at a white desk talking with an older woman and looking as beautiful as ever.

"Sam!" She looked up and smiled, walking over to greet him. "Did you get the job?"

He wrapped her in a hug. "Yup. Do you like me more?"

"A little bit," Carly laughed. Her British accent sounded better with an echo.

"Hey, you didn't tell me you worked at the Starship Enterprise. I knew your boss loved cars, but this is ridiculous."

"Isn't it great? I told you I worked with the books in his car division. And Dylan is such a cool guy…"

Before she could finish, a tall and very handsome man with thick black hair walked up to them.

"You must be Sam. Dylan Gould," he stretched out his hand, introducing himself. "Carly has told me so much about you."

"Yeah, yeah, she's told me a lot about you, too," Sam replied.

"Listen, I would love to stay and chat but I am very late for an important lunch date," Dylan said, checking his watch.

"Sir, she's here," the older woman who Carly was talking to earlier said, pointing to the entrance. A woman was walking in, short but with an athletic build. Her hair was naturally a sun-kissed blonde and cut in a short bob. Her loose, purple blouse and dark skinny jeans were casual yet looked expensive. Sam recognized her instantly.

"Emma?"

Her green eyes had been focused on Dylan but instantly flicked to Sam. "Oh my goodness. Sam Witwicky! It's been such a long time. What are you doing here?"

She walked up to him and gave him a quick hug while Carly and Dylan looked on incredulously.

"I should be asking you that," Sam replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I'm guessing you two know each other?" Dylan asked. His face seemed contorted and stretched, his smiled forced, as if he was hiding some emotion.

Sam started to answer but Emma cut him off. "Oh, I knew his parents. Way back in the day. A long time ago." Her eyes pleaded with Sam to go along with the lie.

He stared at her for a second before refocusing on Dylan. "Oh yeah, long time ago. In fact, I was an infant at the time."

Everyone laughed and Dylan relaxed, placing his arm around Emma. "This is my very important lunch date. I'm so sorry I was late, darling. I will make it up to you." He gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Emma shrugged, seeming to be uncomfortable with Dylan so close. "It's fine. I hadn't made it to the restaurant yet. I was across the street checking on things at the pharmacy and decided to stop by."

Carly looked over at Sam expectantly. "Oh, Emma, this is my girlfriend, Carly," he said, pulling her closer.

Emma looked at Sam quizzically but smiled at Carly and reached out her hand. "Very nice to meet you." Much had changed for the both of them apparently since last seeing each other.

"Well, we should get going," Dylan said, starting to guide Emma away. "Carly, why don't you take the rest of the day off? Go celebrate Sam's new job."

"Really?" Carly grinned. "Thank you, Mr. Gould."

"Sure, yeah, let's get out of here," Sam said quietly, leading his girlfriend out the door.

As they were getting in his car, Emma ran out the front door. "Sam, wait!"

"Carly, just stay here in the car for a second, ok?" Sam asked his girlfriend, peering through the car window.

She made a face. "Why?"

"I just need to talk to Emma for a second."

"I thought you said you barely knew her."

Sam sighed. "I'll explain everything when we get home, ok? Just let me do this."

Carly rolled her eyes. "Ok."

Emma was hurrying down the wide steps and Sam walked up the sidewalk to meet her.

"Where's Bumblebee?" she asked, surprised by his old, ugly car.

"He's unavailable. What was that in there?" he asked angrily.

"I know, I'm sorry," she shook her head. "I wasn't prepared…for this."

"Prepared for what? Explaining your past to your new boyfriend? What happened with Colonel Lennox?"

Emma took a deep breath. "Me and Will broke up about 6 months ago. And Dylan is not my new boyfriend. We've gone out a couple of times. That's it."

"But why did you lie to him? Are you embarrassed about the Autobots?"

"No. Never. It's just…you have to understand. When Will and I broke up, I had to leave all of that behind. And I can't explain to anyone about the Autobots. That's still classified information…as if anyone would believe me anyway. So it's just easier to…leave all of it out." Her eyes were sad even now as she talked about it. "This has not been easy for me, Sam. That was four years of my life that I had to move on from."

His face softened. "Well, I guess I understand."

"What about you and Mikaela?" Emma asked.

"Oh, we broke up some time ago. Yeah, me and Carly have been dating a couple of years now." He turned to see the sour look on his girlfriend's face. "She's normally very nice."

Emma smiled. "I'm sure she is. Look, I'd better go. I'm meeting Dylan at his car. But let's keep in touch, you know. I didn't know you were in DC. Maybe you, me, and Carly can grab a bite to eat sometime. It would be nice to catch up."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Sam nodded.

"Great. See you soon!" She was gone as quickly as she had arrived. Sam was left shaking his head in wonder.

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Emma sat on the couch in her pajamas, sipping some hot chocolate and flipping channels on the television. It had been somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster seeing Sam today. It brought back so many memories, some of them bad, but most of them good. She wondered if she was finally beginning to move on and be able to look back on those years with happiness instead of breaking into tears thinking about her failed relationship with Will.<p>

And the Autobots. She couldn't wait to hear how they were doing.

Lunch with Dylan had been nice. He was always good company and made her laugh. She smiled as she thought of him. Yes, maybe she was ready to move on.

* * *

><p>"She's lying to you," hissed a mechanical voice. Dylan sat in a chair in the middle of his office. The day had turned to night, yet only a lone lamp lit the room. It did little to illuminate the space, but Dylan knew it was there before it spoke.<p>

"You know she is," Laserbeak poked its head out of the shadows, its red eyes peering at the accountant. "You must find out what she knows."

Dylan ran his fingers through his hair. He was sad yet angry. Sad because he finally felt like he had found someone special in Emma. He really liked her. But angry because he did feel she was lying about something.

"I know, I know," Dylan said, exasperated. He swiveled around to his desk and logged onto the computer. It took only a basic search before her name began popping up with strange occurrences in Qatar, Mission City, and Egypt. Pictures on rumor websites of her with alien robots. And one picture of particular interest…her in an embrace with the NEST commander himself, Colonel William Lennox.

Dylan's shoulders sagged while Laserbeak wore an evil grin. "We can certainly use this to our advantage."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you, Gorgeous BB, for reviewing! I hope you all are enjoying the story. And I hope to get some more reviewers soon! I will go ahead and put up the next chapter. Enjoy! _

Chapter 3

The next few days were uneventful for Emma. She worked at the pharmacy as she had almost every day for the last 2 years. It wasn't traveling around the world, but it was a good job in a stable environment. She had worked for the same company for all her time in Washington DC but had moved to the location close to Dylan's office not long after she and Will broke up. That was how the two had met…he came in with a terrible cold and was looking for some medicine to help him. She offered her advice and he gratefully accepted it. He came back a week later, feeling much better and begging for her phone number. It took five tries before she finally gave it to him.

She talked to Sam briefly one evening on the phone, but he sounded distracted so she didn't keep him long.

Life was otherwise back to normal. Until late one afternoon when Sam came running in her pharmacy.

"Emma, we have to go." He was sweaty like he had been running, and his eyes kept darting around nervously.

"Go? Go where?" she started to laugh but saw the seriousness of his face. "What's going on? What happened?"

"The Decepticons are back. We have to leave…NOW!"

Without even thinking twice, Emma took off her white pharmacist jacket, gathered her things, told everyone in the pharmacy to go home, and locked the door behind her as they left.

Sam had a hold of her arm as they ran towards his car. Carly was already sitting in the front seat.

"Carly, would you mind getting in the back seat?" Sam asked breathlessly, throwing open the car door.

"What for?" the young Brit was obviously very upset, especially upon seeing Emma was the reason they had stopped.

"Emma and I have some things to discuss. Please, I don't have time to argue with you."

Carly angrily stepped out of the car , pulled the passenger seat forward, and slid into the back seat. She sulkingly looked out the window, her arms crossed over her chest.

Emma jumped in the car and Sam slammed the door behind her. He ran across and got in the driver side. The car was still running, and he jammed the stick into drive, peeling out into the road.

"Now, Sam, tell me what happened," Emma said, trying to collect her thoughts.

"The Decepticons are back. I was at work today at Accuretta Systems, and one of the guys in charge of Research and Development was killed. Thrown out the window by something. Then a Decepticon tried to peel my face off."

Emma raised a hand to her mouth in horror. "Oh my God."

"Yeah, a rough day at the office." Sam was swerving in and out of traffic, rushing to their destination. "How do you know it was a Decepticon that killed him?" asked Emma.

"How? You're asking me how? Because then it tried to kill me!" Sam was yelling.

"Sam…" Carly's voice seemed to calm him some. He took a deep breath.

"This guy, Jerry Wang, tried to tell me something. He gave me all these papers about missing engineers and astronauts. He said the Decepticons are killing off everyone who knows about what's on the dark side of the moon."

"The dark side of the moon…" Emma whispered, her mind racing. "But why are they killing humans? They've only ever wanted to kill each other."

"I don't know. But we are going to get some answers."

"What do you mean? Where are we going?" Emma suddenly wished she hadn't gotten in the car. She knew where they were going. Sam looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"You need to be there. You know you do. You've been a part of this from the beginning. The Decepticons are up to something. And humans are involved somehow. Maybe if we all get back together…we can figure it out."

Emma nodded. She knew he was right, but she wished he wasn't.

They arrived at the Department of Health and Human Services just after dark fell. Heavily armed guards stood at the closed gate. Sam pulled the car up and rolled down the window.

"I need to get in there," he demanded.

The guard peered in at the three of them. "Who are you?"

"Who am I? Who are you? The Decepticons are back. They're back, and they're killing humans, and I need to talk to Colonel Lennox and Optimus right now." Sam was acting crazy, but both Emma and Carly stayed quiet.

"Sir, this is the Department of Health and Human Services," one of the guards said.

"Department of Health and Human Services…? Packing M4's? Oh, ok, so what are you guarding? Colostomy bags? Throat lozenges? You get that hat from nursing school?"

The guards were looking at each other with grim faces. Emma knew this was not going well.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Leave? What part of the Decepticons are back do you not understand?" Sam was yelling now.

Another guard hit his hand on the top of the car and looked in the passenger window. "Hey, get out of here, kid."

Sam's jaw locked tightly in anger. "Do not hit my car."

"Sam, calm down," Carly said softly from the back seat.

"No, I need to see Optimus right now! We are getting in this building." Sam put the car in drive and slammed the pedal down, tires spinning as they moved forward.

"No! Sam!" Emma screamed as a metal barrier popped up, sending the car upwards.

Sam let out a loud yell and leaped from the car onto one of the guards. Emma and Carly hastily got out on the passenger side.

"Sam, don't! They have guns!" Carly cried as he and the guard toppled to the ground, wrestling.

One of the guards grabbed Carly, holding her back, but Emma swiftly shoved her palm into his nose. He stumbled backwards, shocked at the blood that poured out. She reached into him and grabbed the radio that was strapped on his uniform.

"Will! Bumblebee!" she screamed into it, hoping someone was listening.

The guard quickly regained control, slamming Emma into the back of the car. He pinned her arms behind her and slapped handcuffs on her wrist.

"That was a mistake," he said heatedly. She grimaced in pain but said nothing.

Suddenly there was the roar of an engine. It started from within the building but quickly got closer. Bumblebee in his Camaro form was speeding toward them. He stopped right in front of the guards and Colonel William Lennox jumped out of the passenger side just before Bumblebee transformed into his robot shape.

"Let them go," Colonel Lennox said. Bumblebee was hovering menacingly over the guards, his guns ready. They quickly released Sam and Emma. Carly ran to her boyfriend.

"THAT's my car," Sam said, pointing at Bumblebee.

"Get those cuffs off of her," Will said, pointing at Emma.

"Sir, she attacked me," the guard said with a confused look, blood still dripping onto his upper lip.

"I don't care, I said get them off!"

The guard haughtily unlocked the handcuffs and Emma rubbed her wrists where the metal had met with skin.

Will walked up to her. Her heart was pounding. This was the closest she had been to him in six months, and yet, it felt like nothing had changed. Every emotion, everything she had felt for him, came rushing back to her.

She had trouble breathing as he stepped close and leaned into her. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Emma nodded her head, trying to smile.

Sam had been talking with Bumblebee, but he looked over at the two. "Don't worry, I'm ok, too," he called to Colonel Lennox.

"Come on, we need to get inside," Will said, opening a gate next to the driveway and holding it open for Sam and Carly as they passed. As Emma walked through, he put a hand on the small of her back, meaning only to help guide her. It was a natural, unthinking motion, one that he had done many times over the past four years. But she stiffened at his touch, and, as if realizing what he had done, dropped his hand away.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you so much GorgeousBB,sielufstf, and shipper for reviewing! Sorry for the longer wait this time. It was the week of my birthday, and I had some celebrating to do! Read, review, enjoy, and make my birthday even more special :)_

Sam quickly updated Lennox on everything he knew, and the colonel listened intently but stopped when Sam mentioned the moon.

"The dark side of the moon?" Will asked.

"Yeah, why?" Sam asked.

Colonel Lennox shook his head and looked at the three civilians. "You're going to want to see this."

He led them through the large warehouse and up a flight of stairs. Emma had been here many times through the times but it never ceased to amaze her. The vastness of the space only emphasized how large the Autobots stood.

Something was new in the space, however. A new Autobot, seemingly in a sleep mode, was being held up by a great frame. Optimus, Bumblebee, Ratchet, Ironhide, and the other Autobots were gathering around it. She couldn't help but smile. It was so good to see them all.

"That," Will said, "is Sentinel Prime. Optimus and Ratchet just retrieved him from a crashed ship…on the far, or dark, side of the moon."

"Wow," Carly breathed, amazed at the sight.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, he was on the dark side of the moon?" Sam asked.

Colonel Lennox nodded grimly. "Optimus is going to revive him with something called the Matrix of Leadership. They also found some pillars on the ship, supposed to be some kind of transport system. Optimus says they are important to the Autobots."

"What is this?" called a loud voice. An older woman was hurrying up to them. She looked professional and angry.

"Who gave these people clearance?" she demanded.

"I did, ma'am," Lennox replied hesitantly.

"YOU did?" Her tone was very sarcastic.

"Uh, I got clearance when the Autobots crashed into my yard. And again today when a Decepticon tried to peel my face off. Have you had your face almost peeled off lately?" Sam was certainly in fine form tonight, and Emma cringed at his mocking remarks.

"This is the Director of National Intelligence," Will said softly.

"Oh," Sam's face fell.

"Sam Witwicky, meet Director Mearing."

"Badmouthing a federal officer. You could be arrested for that."

"That's already almost happened to me tonight, too," Sam replied in a low voice.

"Colonel Lennox, unless I missed a policy paper that said we are now entrusting national security to teenagers…" Mearing glanced over her shoulder at her assistant, who shook her head, "good, I didn't miss that…you had no right to bring them in here. And who is this?"

"This is my girlfriend," Sam answered, pulling Carly closer. Mearing raised her eyebrows.

"She knows all about the Autobots and comes from a military family. I can vouch for her," Colonel Lennox interjected.

"And you?" the Director asked, peering out the top of her glasses at Emma.

Will sighed heavily. "She's, uh, my ex-girlfriend."

"What is this, like a date? A double date?"

"You know, as a tax payer, I would really like to lodge a complaint," Sam said. "Seeing as how a Decepticon tried to kill me today, I really think my government owes me something."

Director Mearing stepped in close and narrowed her eyes. " It sure sounds like you think you're someone special, but listen to me, Sam Witwicky, if you tell anyone about what you see in here, you will go to prison for treason. Do you understand me?"

"I only take orders from the Autobots. I know them, I don't know you," Sam replied.

"You will."

The two glared at each other for a few seconds. Emma shifted uncomfortably and locked eyes with Ironhide.

"Well, well, well, look who finally came to visit," Ironhide said, a hint of a smile pulling at his metallic lips. The other Autobots gathered around.

"Emma, it is very nice to see you. It has been too long," Optimus said, bending down to be at eye level with her. His voice was loud and powerful but also soothing.

Emma smiled. "It's really nice to see all of you."

"Yeah, what happened? You broke up with your stupid boyfriend, not with us. You could still come around," Ratchet said, looking at Will. He turned away awkwardly.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," Emma laughed. "I promise to come see all of you more."

"We need to get started," Optimus said seriously. The other Autobots nodded.

He moved toward Sentinel and pulled the Matrix out of his chest. It was an odd shape, circular in the middle but ending in points on opposite ends. It was glowing a light blue. Everyone stared in hushed silence.

"Sentinel, I revive you!" Optimus' voice boomed in the space and he pushed the Matrix into the chest of the sleeping giant. Instantly his eyes popped open. His head snapped back and forth and he easily broke the bonds on the frame that had been holding him. He leaped at Optimus, knocking him to the ground. NEST soldiers held up their guns, ready to shoot.

"Hold your fire!" Colonel Lennox shouted, raising his arms.

"Sentinel, you are safe!" Optimus said, wrestling with Sentinel to defend his attacks. "You are on the planet Earth. These are humans, and they are our allies."

"The war! The war!" Sentinel cried out but he began to calm down.

The two alien robots stood up and Optimus grabbed the Matrix of Leadership, which was still floating next to them.

"The war is over," Optimus said sadly. "Cybertron is lost."

"No…" Sentinel breathed, looking away Even his whisper echoed in the large space.

"Earth is our home now," Optimus replied.

Sentinel's head snapped back. "What about the pillars?"

"We found five of the pillars, including the control pillar," Optimus answered.

"FIVE! We used to have hundreds!"

"Excuse me, excuse me," Director Mearing called out. "Sentinel, what are these pillars you talk of?"

"They are a type of space bridge, way ahead of your human technology. Able to bring resources through far reaches of space," the older Prime answered.

"Resources? And also guns, weapons, even soldiers. That sounds like the sort of thing you need to send through customs."

"They are our technology and do not belong to you."

Mearing shook her head. "Unfortunately, now they do. You cannot and will not have them back. It's a little thing called paperwork that separates us from the animals."

"I will overlook your condescending tone if you heed mine, human. The Decepticons must never know the pillars are here for it would mean the end of your world."

Sentinel and Mearing scowled at each other for a few moments until Optimus pulled Sentinel back. "Come, there is much to catch up on."

"Yeah, we should go," Lennox said, leading Emma and the others away. He took them to a tiny office that was stacked high with books and files. Mearing sat behind the desk, and gestured to the two seats in front of her, where Carly and Sam sat down. Emma stayed with Will in the back close to the door.

"Total nightmare file," she said, holding up a piece of paper and throwing it in her bag. Her assistant nodded.

"So what do we do now?" Sam asked.

"YOU go home," Mearing answered. "We'll send you with Autobot protection."

"You expect me to just…leave? Forget about all of this? No, no way," Sam replied, sitting on the edge of his seat. Carly put a hand on his knee to try to reassure him.

"This is a job for highly specialized intelligence officers. Not for teenagers who used to have a cool car."

Emma frowned. "Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" She remembered well Sam almost dying in the desert for the protection of Earth and all humans. He could be a hothead sometimes, but overall he was a good kid with a kind heart.

Mearing looked up at her briefly before refocusing on the young couple. "Look, Sam, you're a messenger. You've always been a messenger."

"He's a hero," Carly said, pulling him up to leave. Sam said nothing, in shock about the Director's statement.

"And what about Emma?" Lennox asked.

"Who?" Mearing replied. Emma slowly raised her hand. "Oh, right. What about her?"

Will sighed. "You don't think she needs protection?"

"No. Why would she? The Decepticons haven't attacked her; they have no reason to attack her. She's fine."

"Director Mearing…" Will started, but she waved him away, looking down at her desk.

"That will be all, Colonel."

Will looked over at Emma, seeming very concerned, but she shrugged. She was nervous about the Decepticons being back and the new discoveries about the Autobots, but there was no reason for any of them to come after her. They walked out in silence.

The warehouse was empty now and every step echoed on the tile floors. Emma felt like she had so many things to say to Will and yet nothing at all.

"So, uh, how have you been?" he asked slowly, seeming to have the same thoughts running through his head.

"I've been good," she answered, keeping her head down. Her heart didn't beat so fast if she wasn't looking at him.

"You still work at the pharmacy on Lee?"

"No, they opened up another shop on Washington, and I'm the pharmacy manager over there now."

Lennox nodded his head. "That's great."

"Thanks. How about you?"

"Yeah, I've been good, too." He was keeping his head down, too. They walked up a flight of stairs and were getting close to the exit. He was walking slowly, and Emma had to slow her steps to keep him from falling behind. "I've just been doing the usual, you know, missions and stuff with the Autobots."

"Out saving the world," Emma smiled.

"I guess so."

At the door where they had come in, Will stopped and turned awkwardly toward her. Her heart felt like it was in her throat. She swallowed hard and tried to slow its beating. Why did she feel like a teenage girl? She was an adult. He was an ex-boyfriend. She could handle this. She took a deep breath and looked up fully into his face. His face looked disappointed and sad. She attempted a smile, hoping it didn't look as fake as it felt.

"Well, I guess I will see you later," she said.

"Yeah," Lennox replied, looking away. "You sure you're going to be ok?"

Emma nodded. "Yes." She paused, looking around. It had been warm during the day, but the night had gotten chilly. She wrapped her arms across her chest, hugging herself tightly. "I, uh, just might need a ride home."

"What?" Will asked, confused.

Emma started to laugh. Sam and Carly were already gone with Bumblebee. She had no car and no way to get anywhere.

"I rode with Sam and Carly," Emma said.

"Oh, right," Will replied, a smile spreading across her face. "I can take care of that."


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you so much, GorgeousBB and shipper, for your reviews! Here is another chapter. One of my favorite chapters to write. Enjoy! And thank you for the "belated" birthday wishes :)_

It took a lot of convincing, but finally Will agreed to drop off Emma outside her apartment and not walk her up. He was definitely unhappy with it, but the last thing Emma wanted was an awkward goodbye at the door. Much less losing her resolve and inviting him to come in. It was hard enough to ride in the car next to him. Most of the travel was spent in silence, nothing to fill the void beyond the short directions to her apartment. It was so much like old times when they were together and yet so different. He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze as she was getting out the car. She felt the blood rush to her face and blushed tremendously, but she managed a quick smile and even quicker exit.

Home felt good. It had been a long and emotional day. She took a long bath, letting the hot water seep into all her tense muscles. Afterwards, she put on a fuzzy robe and slippers. As she was passing by the window, she noticed a car sitting out front. It was Will. She couldn't help but smile. Deep down, she knew he would stay there all night to make sure she was ok. It made her feel happy and sad at the same time.

He was looking up at her, noticing the flutter in the window. Emma pulled her bathrobe a little tighter around herself and gave a small wave and smile, letting him know everything was ok. Then she shut the blinds.

Her body was painfully tired but her brain was fully awake with all the events that had happened that day. She laid down on the couch and watched late night television, letting her mind slip away. She was almost asleep when she heard her phone buzzing.

"Hello?" she asked, the sleep evident in her voice.

"Emma, are you ok?" Dylan's voice snapped her back awake.

"Oh my God, Dylan. I am so sorry," Emma sat up, rubbing her face with her free hand.

"I waited at the restaurant for over an hour. Is everything alright?" He didn't sound angry, just concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. I've just had…a very crazy day," she answered. "I am so sorry. I completely forgot we made dinner plans for tonight."

"It's ok. Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're ok." Him being so nice about it made her feel even more like a jerk. "Listen, I know how you can make it up to me, though."

"How?" She was happy he was giving her another chance.

"I have a dinner party tomorrow night. It's a work thing…you know, a lot of boring people like me. But I need someone there who has my back. To laugh at my bad jokes and make others believe I'm actually an interesting guy. Carly is coming, and I told her to invite Sam. It will be fun."

Emma laughed. "What time do I need to be there?"

She could hear the smile in his voice. "I'll send a car for you at 8."

"Ok, see you tomorrow. And Dylan, I really am very sorry. Thank you for being so nice about it."

"Well, I like to pretend to be a nice guy," he joked. "I'm looking forward to seeing you."

They hung up and Emma smiled, happy to have something nice to drift off to sleep to. After Dylan hung up, he grimaced. "You have no idea what you are in for, Emma Paulson."

* * *

><p>She woke up on the couch. Her neck was stiff, she was still wrapped in the robe. The sun was barely casting light into her apartment, but it was indeed morning. The events of the previous day came rushing back. It gave her a headache. She slowly sat up, her body complaining against it. Her eyes barely had a chance to focus when it came swooping at her.<p>

It pointed a metal claw at her throat and hissed her name. "Emmmmmmaaaa."

She was pinned to the couch, unable to breathe, unable to move. "Wh-Why are you here?"

Laserbeak grinned. "Oh, Emmmmmaaaa, poor thing. Don't you know? We need you to do something for us." Each word was drawn out and slithered out like a snake from its beak.

"What do you want?" A mere flick of its claw and it would slit her throat. She swallowed cautiously.

"The boy, Witwicky, he is up to something. We need you to find out what he knows."

"No," Emma shook her head, feeling her skin slide against the side of its claw. It was ice cold. "I won't help you."

It smiled again. Such an evil and yet knowing smile. "Oh yes you will. Because if you don't, he will die." It let go of her, swooping over to the window. She grasped at her throat, surprised to find it still intact. It was waiting for her at the window. She cautiously stood up and closed the distance between them. She stood on her toes to look out the window so as to not have to get too close to it. Will was still out there in his car, but he was now asleep. His head was leaning against the steering wheel, his mouth open slightly. The window was open just a crack, enough to let some air in.

There was a buzzing sound close to her ear. Like a mosquito. She swiped it away, thinking it was a bug. Laserbeak grinned. "It won't go away so easily."

Emma scrunched her forehead, confused. She turned to see the buzzing sound came from no mosquito. It was a tiny, flying Decepticon. Its red eyes stared at her. It looked like a bee and had a stinger pointing out the back. "One for you…"

She took in a sharp breath, feeling the prick of the needle in her neck.

"And one for him."

Laserbeak opened the window slightly and the Decepticon flew out nimbly. She watched, panic rising within her, as it reached Will's car and slipped in through the window. It stung him also, but the small prick barely roused him from his sleep. His hand sleepily reached up and touched his neck before falling back down. He never even lifted his head.

"What did you do?" she whispered.

"It's a poison. In 12 hours, you will either give us what we want, or you and the Colonel will be dead."

Emma shook her head, anger practically boiling through her head. Tears welled up hot in her eyes, but she would not let them fall.

"Fine. I will do what you want." Her words were said through clenched teeth.

"I knew you would see it our way. We will be watching you."

In an instant, it was gone. Emma inhaled deeply only to collapse her head in her hands, sobbing.

* * *

><p>"Hi Sam." Her voice sounded strained on the phone, but Sam thought nothing of it. There was too much else on his mind.<p>

"Hey Emma, how's it going?"

"Good, good. I was just wondering…if you had found anything out…you know, about the Decepticons."

"Yeah, of course, we've been working on it all morning. Why don't you come over and we can go over it all?"

She hesitated. "Why don't you just…tell me what you've found out so far. You can tell me the rest later."

"No, Emma, you don't understand. There's like a whole moon conspiracy and, and…" Sam got louder and spoke very fast when he got excited…"and it's just way too much to tell you about over the phone. So come on over. Simmons is on his way, too."

She reluctantly agreed, the sick feeling in her stomach only getting worse.

* * *

><p>"Well, well, well, look who it is." Some things never changed, like Simmons. His sniveling voice and sarcastic smile were the exact same as when she had last seen him nearly three years ago. He was sitting in the middle of about ten computer and tv screens. His assistant, Dutch, smiled at her from a seat next to him.<p>

"Agent Simmons. Or shall I say ex-Agent Simmons," she managed a smile. "How is life post Sector 7?"

"Life has been good, my old friend. Life has been good. Have you read my book?"

"Well, I thought about it, and then I realized I had many other much more important and fascinating things to do."

"Ah ha!" Simmons laughed. "Touche."

"Emma, glad you could make it," Sam said. Bumblebee was sitting in the middle of the room. He waved hello.

"You live here, Sam?" she asked, in awe of the beautiful apartment.

"Yeah. Well, my girlfriend pays for most of the rent…and utilities, and food, and everything else. But yeah, this is where we live."

"Nice," Emma breathed. She had worked for six years as a pharmacist and couldn't afford anything near that beautiful.

"So, anyways, you can sit down here. We were just talking about this whole moon conspiracy."

"There are a lot of dead astronauts. Apparently they are very bad drivers," Simmons chipped in.

"And, and the Russian space program was shut down in 1972, but Brains found two of the Cosmonauts that were scheduled to fly on that mission alive and here in the United States," Sam said excitedly. "We're going to go meet with them."

Although Emma hated the real reason she was here, her interest was certainly perked. "What do you think all this means?"

"I don't know yet," Sam replied. "But here, take a look at this…" He handed her some papers from the company he worked for. "This is the guy's file, the guy that was killed yesterday. Apparently he was doing some cover-up for the Decepticons. It's all right here in his records…"

Sam was leaning over her, pointing out the lines of code that showed where Mr. Wang had altered it, when Carly walked in. They both looked up, startled. Bumblebee tried to stand up, hit the ceiling, and knocked down the chandelier. It shattered to the ground. He put his head down sheepishly.

Carly gave them all a surprised look. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Who are you?" Simmons asked.

"Who are you?" Carly replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Who is that?" Simmons asked again, turning to Sam. "Dutch, frisk her."

Dutch gave a small smile. "Certainly."

Carly held up her hand. "Don't touch me." She turned to Sam also, still waiting for an answer. "Sam?"

"Angel, darling, I was working," Sam replied.

She shook her head and started walking up the stairs. Sam ran to follow her.

"She lives here?" Simmons asked incredulously. "Dutch, you missed your chance."

"I have a girlfriend," Dutch answered, shrugging.

"Oh really? Who?"

"Innnndiiiiaaaa." Dutch stretched out the name, knowing it sounded as stupid and made up as it was. Emma tried to conceal a smile.

Sam and Carly's heated voices came from upstairs for another ten minutes while the others waited awkwardly in the living room. As they came back down the stairs, she had changed into a beautiful blue dress. Sam was still pleading his case, but she obviously wasn't listening.

"So I guess you're not coming either?" Carly interrupted him to face Emma.

"Uh, to what?" she asked, surprised.

"To Dylan's dinner party."

Emma took in a sharp breath. She couldn't believe she had forgotten a second time in a row about meeting Dylan for dinner. "Oh my God. I…I don't know." Her mind was buzzing. It immediately went to the poison flowing through her and Will's veins. However, Laserbeak had said within 12 hours. That gave her until 7 pm to do what it asked. Dylan said the car for her would arrive at 8. "Yeah, I'll be there, Carly. Just tell him I might be a little late."

"Good," Carly replied. "At least SOMEBODY keeps their promises." She gave a long stare at Sam before walking out the door. Sam gave them all a helpless look before running after her.

"Let's pack it up," Simmons said quietly. "We need to go find those Cosmonauts."

"You think Sam is still coming?" Emma asked.

Simmons nodded. "If I know that kid at all, it's that he just can't get enough of alien robots."

Bumblebee looked sad but nodded. Emma felt bad for him. She used to know somebody else like that very well.


	6. Chapter 6

_Gorgeous BB, shipper, and Supreme Phoenix King...you guys are awesome :) This chapter is rated T for violence. Enjoy!_

Meeting with the Cosmonauts had not gone as smoothly as they had hoped, but they had gotten what they went after. Emma shuddered, even in the warmth of the late fall afternoon, as her mind tossed over everything they had learned. The Decepticons had all the other pillars. Sentinel was the key. They needed to find and protect Sentinel Prime.

Emma was wrestling with the guilt that had started eating away at her. She had betrayed everyone, including herself. She checked her watch. It was 6:35 pm. Her time was almost done. Relief flooded through her.

"Hey Emma!" Sam called. He ran over from where had been talking with Simmons. "We found Sentinel. He's not far. Come on, we have to go!"

She shook her head. "I'm not coming."

Sam looked confused. "What?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not coming."

"Are you crazy? You can't leave now!"

Emma's phone rang. "Go on without me, Sam." He stood in one place, shocked, as she walked away to answer her phone.

"Hi Dylan! I was just about to head home and get ready for your dinner party," she said, real happiness edging into her voice.

"You can't leave now." His tone was strange and very serious, his words echoing Sam's.

"Huh?"

"You have to stay with Sam. You have more work to do."

She understood his words, but she still couldn't believe what he was saying. "What are you talking about, Dylan?"

"You heard me."

Emma took a deep breath, realization settling through her body. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "You work for the Decepticons?" Her body practically shook with anger. "You've been behind all of this?"

"And now you work for them, too. We needed someone with a certain…leverage…on the NEST commander." Even with the sarcasm heavy in his voice, he sounded monotonous, uncaring, robotic. Much like the Decepticons he had come to serve.

"No," she replied. "I got the information. I did what you wanted. I'm done now."

"You will what I say or he will die!" The sudden rise in his voice made her gasp. "Or would you prefer to sentence your one true love to death?"

"What do you want me to do?" Emma asked softly. She clenched her jaw to keep her voice from trembling.

"You will call your little boyfriend and tell him that you are taking the I-95 back to base with Sentinel."

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions. Just do it. You'd better hurry if you're going to catch Sam." The line clicked dead. Emma rubbed her forehead trying to make sense of everything. Could he SEE her? She twirled around, trying to find anything out of the ordinary. Bumblebee was zooming by. She snapped back into action, waving him down.

"Change your mind?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, let's just get out of here," Emma replied, climbing into the passenger side.

Sam could see something was very wrong with her, but he didn't even have time to think about it before they sped away.

They found Sentinel easily. As Sam stepped away to call Director Mearing, Emma took a deep breath and dialed a familiar phone number.

"Emma, where are you?" His voice was concerned.

"Will, I'm with Sam. We have Sentinel." She sounded emotionless.

"Oh God, Emma, I really didn't want you to get involved in this," Colonel Lennox sighed heavily. He still cared about her. That made this hurt even more. "OK, tell me where you are and Optimus and I will meet you on your way back."

"We're taking interstate 95 back to headquarters." She kept her words to as few as possible, scared if she spoke too much it would give away that she was lying.

"Alright, we're on our way. And Emma…be careful."

"I will be. You too." Will hung up the phone. His thoughts were always with Emma. He knew she didn't understand that, and that was why she had left him, but it would never change how he felt about her.

"Colonel, where am I to meet them?" Optimus was standing close to Will.

"Oh, uh, they're taking I-95."

"Are you sure? My internal mapping system says that the interstate 235 is the better route back to base."

Will shook his head. "That's what she said, so that's the route they're taking."

"Yes, sir," Optimus replied, nodding. He turned to leave.

"Wait! I'm coming with you," Will said.

"No, Colonel. You stay here and wait for our return. I will meet the others and help protect Sentinel en route back to headquarters."

Reluctantly, Will agreed. He watched Optimus transform into his Peterbilt truck mode and drive away.

* * *

><p>She hated herself. As they were speeding down interstate 235, she absolutely hated herself. She wished she had never met Dylan Gould. She wished she had never run into Sam that day. She wished so many things.<p>

She was still riding in the passenger seat next to Sam in Bumblebee. Ratchet sped alongside next to them. Simmons and his assistant were behind them in a lavish and very expensive car. She stared out the window, letting her mind blur like their surroundings.

However, she still had no idea why she needed to lie to Will about what route they were taking. Why was it so important for them to not know what road they were on?

Soon, she found out. Three black SUV's were dodging in and out of traffic. Everyone immediately knew they were Decepticons.

"Go, go, go," Sam said nervously.

As if they weren't already going fast enough, Bumblebee sped up. They were now at over 100 mph. Emma anxiously gripped the seat and turned to watch the Decepticons behind them. They were quickly catching up.

She watched in horror as the Decepticons transformed into their full alien form. One of them pulled Simmons out of his car. She watched him roll on the pavement.

"Oh my God!" she screamed, but there was nothing they could do. They had to keep going.

Sam clutched the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were turning white. He was terrified, although he never tried to let it show. He immediately thought of Carly, wishing the last time he saw her they had not been fighting. Wishing he had gone with her. Hoping the last words he would ever say to her were not angry words.

It happened so fast neither of them had a chance to even react. One of the Decepticons shot down the road signs, blocking the entire highway in front of them. Bumblebee was going too fast to stop. One second Emma was sitting in the car, and the next she was flying through the air. The wind hit her face with such an intensity that it took her breath away. She couldn't even scream. Her eyes could only see the black pavement coming closer and closer. And before she could blink again, she was back in the car, sitting in the passenger seat. Her head snapped back against the head rest. Sam was still screaming beside her. Bumblebee had transformed into his alien form and jumped over the road block, but in the process had to eject his passengers. He had grabbed them before they hit the ground and returned them to their places as he transformed back into the Camaro. He came to a stop, trying to let the two catch their breath.

Sentinel was still speeding up ahead of them. Ratchet was following closely behind him.

"Ok," Sam breathed. "Let's get back to base."

As they sped through the city streets, Emma practically cried when she saw the Department of Health and Human Services come into view. They were almost safe.

Two of the Decepticons were still pursuing them, and Ironhide came out to greet them. Emma relaxed in her seat as they pulled through the gates. Bumblebee came to a skidding stop in front of the large building. Will was running towards her, and she leapt out of the car and into his arms. He held her tightly, stroking her hair.

"Are you ok?" he asked, pulling her back to look at her.

'"Yes, I'm fine," Emma nodded. His hands were on her cheeks, cradling her face. She leaned into him. He was so strong, so SAFE. She never felt safer than when she was with him. She buried her head into his shoulder, letting the feeling overwhelm her. Why did she ever leave?

Ironhide had returned, the two Decepticons now dead. Sentinel was towering over them, his blue eyes glowing.

"Lennox!" Sam ran towards them. "You need to protect Sentinel. He's the key to the whole thing."

Will pulled away but kept a hand on her waist. "Ironhide, protect Sentinel. Get him locked up inside."

Ironhide nodded. "Consider it done."

"Indeed I am the key," Sentinel's voice boomed. "What you need to understand, Autobot brothers, is that we were never going to win the war. For the sake of our planet's survival, a deal had to be made…with Megatron."

Before anyone could move, Sentinel cocked his gun and shot Ironhide. It felt as if the world stopped then. Everything was slow motion. Her good friend through many trials, Ironhide, withered on the ground. Sentinel was shooting at everything and everyone.

"Get down!" Will shouted. He grabbed Emma's shirt and pulled her to the ground, then practically dragged her behind a wall, trying to shield her from the blasts. "Everybody get back!"

"Bee!" Sam hollered as Bumblebee and Sentinel began shooting at each other. Will grabbed him on their way to shelter and pulled him to safety also. Emma looked over and saw him huddled close by, the look on his face showing what they were all feeling.

"Rally all NEST forces back to the base!" Lennox yelled at a nearby soldier. He looked over at Emma, her face frozen into shock and confusion.

"Emma!" He shook her shoulders, trying to get her to focus. "Emma, you need to get out of here!"

Sentinel had blasted into the NEST headquarters. He was going after the pillars. There were many wounded men lying on the ground. She was staring at all of them, her hand partially covering her open mouth.

"Emma, look at me!" Finally she met his eyes. "Do you hear me?"

She shook her head in acknowledgement.

He took a deep breath. "Good. I have to try to get to Sentinel. Go home, ok? Pack a bag, get out of town. I will call you later."

Again, a slow nod. He wished she would say something. He wished he had more time but there was none. He gave her shoulders one last squeeze, then turned and ran off.

It seemed as if each second lasted forever. She couldn't move, she couldn't think. The _betrayal _of Sentinel_._ But there was something deeper than that stirring within her. Optimus was the only one powerful enough to stop Sentinel, but he wasn't here. Because she had lied to him. It was because of her. SHE had let this happen.

She looked around again at the soldiers lying on the ground. Most were wounded, some were not moving. There were more gunshots and explosions coming from inside the building. More screams. She leaned over and threw up.


	7. Chapter 7

_I am so happy that you are enjoying my story! Thank you shipper, Supreme Phoenix King, ana wan kenobi, and VampWolf92 for reviewing. You all are why I keep writing! T rating continues. Enjoy!_

Colonel Lennox started helplessly at the wreckage in front of him. Sentinel had gotten the pillars and left a wake of destruction in his path with many wounded. The NEST teams were regrouping to continue their pursuit of Sentinel. They could only guess at his plans. But Lennox was happy that at least Emma was safe. Sam had run off too in search of his girlfriend. He hoped they would leave the area as well.

Optimus was just returning. His blue eyes scanned the scene sadly.

"Yeah, take a look, Optimus! This is all on you!" Mearing yelled from an upper deck. She had arrived at the headquarters just as Sentinel was blasting through. When all else failed with the Director, she yelled. And she would just continue yelling at anything with ears.

"Sentinel has the pillars," Lennox said to Optimus. "We're going after him."

Optimus shook his head, hanging it low with the betrayal he felt. "You can't stop him."

"We have to try."

"Colonel, where is Emma?"

Will looked up, surprised Optimus would care where she was with everything else going on. "She's safe. I sent her home to pack some things up. Why?"

Optimus paused. It seemed as if he was thinking very hard whether to answer.

"Is she ok?" Will asked. Maybe Optimus knew something had happened to her. Worry started to rise in his stomach.

"They did not take the interstate 95 back to base," the Prime said slowly.

"What?"

"They did not take the interstate 95," Optimus repeated. "We were lied to."

_Surely not_, Will's mind immediately buzzed. _She wouldn't have done that._

But one look back into Optimus' sorrowful eyes, and Lennox knew the truth. His heart sank farther than he thought possible. He didn't have time to think about it much, though, as Megatron had been sighted at the Lincoln Memorial, and they needed to head out.

* * *

><p>Emma had done what he said. She went home and packed a bag. Although she would never be able to tell anyone exactly how she managed to do that. It felt like she was sleepwalking.<p>

However, reality hit again as soon as she stepped outside her apartment building. A silver car was sitting directly out front with the driver side open, the same one Carly had been driving earlier. She knew she had no choice but to get in.

* * *

><p>He had to get to her. It was the only thing on his brain.<p>

He was surprised to see Emma sitting at the table with Carly and Dylan. Had she really come to the dinner party after everything that had happened? She was still in the same jeans and white sweater from earlier. She was dirty, and looked tired and defeated.

"Come on, we're leaving," Sam said quickly.

Dylan looked up quizzically, a smirk on his face. "You know, Sam, I was just telling Carly that if I were you, I would never let her out of my sight."

"Well, isn't that funny? I was just thinking on the way over here about how I needed some advice from Dylan," Sam replied with heavy sarcasm. He reached out his hand and Carly grabbed it.

"What's going on?" she hissed but let him pull her up.

"I'll tell you outside," Sam answered, turning to look at Emma. "Come on, you too."

Emma was still sitting next to Dylan. He reached over and patted her hand in a comforting manner, the smirk still on his face. A shiver of revulsion went down her spine.

"Emma." Sam was still waiting for her, impatience all over his face. Carly still

looked confused by the whole situation.

"Oh, Sam. How young you really are. Emma is not going with you. She's staying with me," Dylan said, standing up and walking around the table towards the young couple. "You see, as adults, we have to make important decisions. When I was young, my dad sat me down and told me about a very important decision he had made. This was back when he was in charge of budget review and accounting for NASA."

Sam stood straight and rigid. He didn't like where this lecture was going. He started to turn and walk away, tugging Carly along.

"You want to know what he told me, Sam?" Dylan called. "He told me that when it's not your war, you choose the side that's going to win."

Sam paused. He glanced over at Emma. She had her head in her hands, unable to look at him.

"That's why Emma is staying with me." Dylan made a grand gesture towards the table. "She has made the same decision."

"No," Sam whispered.

"Tell them, Emma," Dylan said. "Tell them the real reason you went to visit him today. And why Optimus was delayed in meeting Sentinel."

Sam shook his head. "You didn't…did you?"

"I'm sorry, Sam." He could barely make out the words, but it was impossible to not understand.

"Let's go, Carly," he said angrily, stomping away.

"I had to do it!" She screamed after them, but Sam didn't care to listen to her anymore.

She had never felt lower in her life. Watching Sam and Carly walk away, knowing she could never join them. Knowing she would never see Will or Optimus or Bumblebee ever again. Not after everything she had done.

Dylan walked out after them as well as many of the guests.

_Party's over_, Emma thought to herself miserably. She sat alone at the table, nothing but her self-pity and Laserbeak perched in the shadows to keep her company.

Soon, Dylan returned with Carly. He had hold of her arm and practically threw her in a chair.

"What did you do?" Emma asked, standing up to confront Dylan.

"Nothing. Sam has some work to do. I'm just making sure it gets done." Dylan walked away.

Emma leaned over to Carly. "Are you ok?" But Carly only folded her arms across her chest and turned her back.

The next 12 hours were long. Dylan's assistant took Emma and Carly upstairs and gave them pajamas to sleep in and showed them a bedroom and the bathroom. It was a beautiful, opulent room, decked out in rich reds and yellows. But neither of them cared. Carly went right to bed. Emma headed into the bathroom and took a long, hot shower. It would have been nice had the situation been different.

The bed was soft and comfortable, but Emma got no sleep. She tossed and turned all night long. Carly was evidently not getting much sleep either. They shared the large king-sized bed, and Emma could hear her moving around at all hours as well.

A knock and the light flashing on let them know it was time to get up. Carly rubbed her heavy-lidded eyes and trodded off to the bathroom without even glancing in Emma's direction. There were some muffins and juice sitting on a table close to the door. Emma took a few bites, but her appetite had left a couple of days ago and not returned.

Dylan was waiting impatiently downstairs. Instead of the suave, charming man Emma had met and started to like, he looked older, angry, stressed. Deep lines creased his face. His hair appeared grayer. He disgusted her. He led them to a waiting car and they were driven to his office. After sitting around for a short while uncomfortably, they were told it was time to leave again. The sun was just rising over the horizon as they got into the helicopter.

Carly still had not said a word to Emma. She sat next to Dylan. Emma sat across from them next to a guard. She had no idea where they were going, but Dylan had made it clear that there were to be no questions.

After being in the air for quite some time, Dylan took out his phone and started to dial. Carly looked over at him, her face hopeful. Emma realized he must be calling Sam. She hoped he was ok.

"You got what you wanted, ok?" Sam said.

"I always get what I want," Dylan smiled. He glanced at Emma. She looked away indignantly. "We just had to be sure."

"Sure of what?" Emma could hear Sam's rising voice through the phone.

"Sure that they would go without a fight."

Emma's head snapped back over to glare at Dylan. He hung up the phone, that same sneer from last night on his face.

"What did you do?" she asked heatedly.

"We needed to get the Autobots out of the way. So the humans did their part, and Starscream did the rest."

Horror filled her chest, pushing on it. The air was suddenly too hot. She couldn't breathe. Were the Autobots dead?

Before she could control herself, she lunged across the helicopter and grabbed hold of Dylan's blue collared shirt. "You bastard!" The guard sitting next to her immediately pulled her back into her seat, but she was still kicking and screaming.

Dylan straightened his jacket, no emotion reading on his face. "We all work for the Decepticons now."

Unable to fight, Emma sobbed heavily for her friends. How could this happen? But she knew, undoubtedly, that she had played a part in their demise.

Late that afternoon, they reached their destination. Tall buildings lined them on each side as the helicopter began to lower. But Emma instantly recognized the skyline. Chicago. She had visited this city many years ago and fallen in love with it. Had vowed to always come back but never got the chance. She wished she wasn't coming back now.

The helicopter landed on the platform of the Trump Tower. Dylan stepped off, ordering the guard and two women to stay put.

Emma was still leaning lifelessly against the window. The guard was eyeing her cautiously, but all the fight had left her body. Carly leaned over. "You really weren't in on any of this, were you?" she asked softly.

Emma shook her head. The younger woman looked at her with sad eyes. She seemed like she wanted to say something else, but Dylan had returned.

* * *

><p>Colonel William Lennox stood in the middle of the conference room at Grisson Air Force Base, trying to coordinate a counter-attack in Chicago. Once the Decepticons had arrived in the city, they completely shut it down. Nobody was getting in and the people coming out were getting fewer and farther between. There were reports of massive casualties and thousands of people still stranded in the city. All attempts to reach them or the Decepticons were quickly thwarted. Not even a single drone could get through to get any images of what was happening. Lennox had a very bad feeling.<p>

As did everyone else, it seemed. There were hushed whispers throughout the room when counter-measure after counter-measure failed. After the broadcast by Sentinel to the leaders at the United Nations, everyone had called for the Autobots to leave. And they did as they were asked to do. When their ship blew up, however, there was a general consensus that this was all part of the Decepticons' plan. Now something bigger than he had ever seen was brewing and he had no idea how to fight back against it. With the Autobots dead, there might not be any way to stop the Decepticons.

He briefly thought of Emma but quickly pushed it away. She was a traitor, and he could waste no more time on her.

* * *

><p>She could feel nothing. But being numb was good. Otherwise she would never be able to handle everything.<p>

The dark night did nothing to hide the destruction happening all around them. Screams reached her ears even up as high as they were. The ships floating in the sky were illuminated by the rockets they shot into buildings and at people on the ground.

Chaos. Everything was chaos.

Emma was slumped in a lounge chair, facing towards the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring at it all but seeing none of it. The night was never-ending. She didn't know what time it was or how long she had been sitting there. Dylan was pacing nervously behind her for quite some time, but eventually even he had tired out and went to the bedroom. Carly sat next to her, occasionally her eyes shutting for several minutes before opening wide again. She shifted uncomfortably.

"Emma." Her voice was soft but sweet.

Emma barely turned her head, looking at the British beauty.

"I-I'm sorry," Carly stammered. "I thought you were on the Decepticons' side. I didn't know."

The older woman smiled faintly. It was nice to hear the honest apology. It chipped away some of the guilt built up inside of her. "It's ok, Carly. I deserved it."

"No you didn't. What did they do to you?"

Emma sighed heavily. She straightened up in the chair, stretching her back. "Laserbeak came to visit me two days ago." Was it really less than 48 hours? It seemed like an eternity ago. "He poisoned me and Will. Said if I didn't do what they wanted, we would both die."

"Oh my God. That's terrible." Carly paused. "You know, they did something like that to Sam," she continued slowly.

"Really?" Emma was more awake now.

"Yeah. Dylan had this watch that latched onto him. Said that if he didn't get information from the Autobots about what their plan was he would kill me," Carly looked away sadly. "I hope he's ok. We were fighting, you know, when I left the apartment the other day. I never had a chance to apologize."

"I'm sure he's fine." Emma reached out and patted the younger girl's hand comfortingly. Carly forced a hopeful smile.

"I've known Sam for a few years," Emma continued, "but I've never seen him look at anyone the way he looks at you. He would go to the end of the world for you."

"I don't need him to go to the end of the world. I just need him to get to Chicago," Carly sighed. They were silent for a few minutes before Carly turned back to her.

"None of this is your fault, you know."

Emma was shocked to hear her say those words. "If I hadn't have cooperated, Sentinel never would have gotten the pillars. I started all of this."

"No, the Decepticons started this. If you hadn't have done what they asked, you and the Colonel would both be dead. And they still would have gotten what they wanted. You didn't know this was going to happen, and you certainly couldn't have stopped it."

Emma smiled, tears of a different kind sliding down her face. Happy, relieved tears. "Thank you. That means a lot to me."

Carly smiled before turning to look back out the window. The night was still dark and the destruction was still great, but for the first time since the Decepticons had returned, Emma felt a glimmer of hope.


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you all so much for reviewing! DarkAngelMel2...love your review! You were so thorough, and it's great! SupremePhoenixKing...your review made me so happy :) Shipper...you've been faithful through it all and I hope I don't disappoint! GorgeousBB...no worries! So glad you're back and still enjoying the story! VampWolf92...so happy to have you reviewing each chapter and glad you like it!_

_We're getting closer to the end, and I hope to start uploading chapters more frequently. I think I'm excited as you all are :) Enjoy!_

Although it seemed impossible that the sun would rise when the world was crumbling around them, light started to filter through the buildings and reached them in their penthouse suite. Emma must have fallen asleep. She yawned and stood up, stretching. Her body ached all over. She rubbed her neck, trying to work out some of the tension.

Carly stretched from the chair. She looked up and the two exchanged smiles.

The morning sun brought no comfort to their situation, however. Emma gasped at how bad things really were. Every building was damaged, some were completely destroyed. People were creeping out from their hiding places of the night and trying to escape the city. A feeling of helplessness overwhelmed her.

Dylan was already up and had returned to his pacing. He was jittery and talked to himself in low tones. He was panicking, and he had good reason to. One misstep and they all could be part of that destruction. There was no guarantee that they were safe. And the Decepticons were not known for keeping their word.

Nothing happened for several hours. There was a lot of sitting around in silence, watching and listening to Dylan. Guards lounged around and a maid and cook bustled around trying to look busy. Laserbeak made a few appearances also, but thankfully it never stayed around long.

Emma kept quiet but was constantly watching the building across from them. The Jeweler's Building. She remembered it well. It had some of the most beautiful architecture in the city. She had taken several pictures of it on her previous trip. But this was not why it interested her today. The Decepticons had chosen it as their base of operations, and Sentinel and Megatron were standing on its tower. Sentinel had placed the control pillar in one of the cupolas. The tension between Megatron and Sentinel was evident even from a distance. Megatron was not one to share power, and Sentinel was not one to take orders. At one point, Sentinel grabbed Megatron's head and pushed him into the building, after which Megatron left, sulking away. Emma looked around to see if anyone else was watching what was happening. The guards sat lazily in their chairs. Dylan had meandered into the kitchen. Carly was the only other one paying attention. They exchanged glances, the faint glimmer of hope from early this morning growing. If the two giants began fighting each other, it might be the only chance the humans had.

* * *

><p>Dylan sat on a stool in the kitchen. His nerves were making him fidgety and agitated. He munched mindlessly on pretzels that had been set out after lunch. He couldn't stand not knowing what was going to happen next, the waiting. The Decepticons had not clued him in to all of their plans. None of them had mentioned this much devastation. It made him wonder what else he didn't know.<p>

He peeked around the corner where he could see Emma and Carly sitting next to each other. They had hardly said a word to each other in the nearly two days that they started this journey, and yet they seemed closer. He wondered what communication was going on between them in the silent glances and knowing looks.

Dylan had never been one to understand women. He knew enough to get what he wanted, but never anything deeper. Emma was the only one he had wanted to get to know on anything more than a superficial level. Every time he saw her, she made him feel…happy. At peace. Everything he normally was not. She stopped in the park just to breathe the fresh air. She loved the rain. She savored every bite of food, no matter what it was. She seemed to see the world differently, and it was very refreshing.

He had never had the chance to enjoy life. From an early age, his father was drilling in him the things he felt were important. Hide your emotions or they will be used against you. The world will not take care of you so you have to take care of yourself. Winning means surviving, therefore you must win at everything.

The first "B" Dylan got on a report card, he received a severe beating. He played baseball in high school. Once during the 9th inning of a game, a hit would have brought his teammate to home plate and scored the winning run. But Dylan struck out. His dad made him stay up all night in the batting cages. He often wished for his mother, but she had left long ago.

Through this, Dylan learned to be perfect. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard in 4 years with dual accounting and business degrees. He took over his father's business and built it up to be one of the most successful in the nation, all the while earning his Masters in business from Georgetown University. He learned to be a charmer, to win over anyone with his smooth words and easy smile. Women flocked to him. But he had never felt alive until he met Emma.

And then he had never felt lower than that evening when he knew he had been betrayed. He remembered the sickening feeling when he saw the picture of her with the Colonel and stories of her with the Autobots. Dylan's enemies. She was one of THEM.

Emma was the only person he had ever fully trusted. She made him want to be a better person. He had even entertained the idea of breaking ties with the Decepticons, no matter the cost to himself, so that he could be completely open and honest with her. But she had been the one lying to him.

Dylan put his head back down, shoving more pretzels in his mouth. He should be angry…furious, but he wasn't. He didn't know why exactly he had brought Emma along with him. His heart still beat a little faster every time she was close. His mind still calmed when he thought of her. Perhaps he remembered a little too well how she had made him feel before the Decepticons put their plan into action. Maybe he was more human and flawed and vulnerable than he was willing to admit.

* * *

><p>She must have imagined it. But Emma had turned her head towards the kitchen, too. They both heard it. Sam's voice.<p>

Carly ran to the kitchen with Emma close behind to see Sam pointing at a gun at Dylan. "Where is she?"

"Sam!" Carly cried out, overjoyed to see him alive and unhurt.

Sam turned to her, relief flooding over his face. He started to lower his gun. Out of nowhere, Laserbeak attacked. It all happened so fast, nobody even had time to react. Laserbeak grabbed Sam by his shirt, picked him up, and carried him over the ledge. Sam dropped out of sight as Carly screamed. Emma gasped, unable to move or think, only watching and not wanting to believe.

But just as she thought everything was lost, Sam came into view again. Carly's heart soared. He reached out to her from on top of a drone. She started to run to him, but a guard grabbed her from behind. She struggled against him to no avail. Emma ran up to them and shoved her elbow into the guard's face. He fell backwards, releasing his grasp on Carly. Without a thought in her head besides getting to Sam, she ran and leaped across the ledge, flying through the air and onto the drone. Sam grabbed her, holding her tight. She turned around to see the other guards had pinned Emma to the ground. She opened her mouth to yell out to her just as Bumblebee began firing.

Emma felt the gunshots whiz by before she even heard them. The guards that were holding her down suddenly went limp. She stayed crouched on the floor, her arms covering her face. Glass all around her shattered and the walls splintered. She heard a loud bang, followed by a mechanical whirring. She cautiously lifted her head. _Am I dead_? She studied her hands. They were bloody from glass shards and a deep cut radiated pain from her right palm. It felt like a million tiny splinters were in her arms. Her head pounded like someone was beating a drum. She felt the pain, which in this case was a good thing…it meant she was still alive. She looked out to see the drone that Sam and Carly were on was now spinning wildly. Laserbeak had hold of Sam, and smoke billowed out from the left engine. She ran to the ledge as the drone spun wildly out of control, but there was nothing left to see. The drone had disappeared behind the maze of buildings, and she could only hope that her friends had a soft enough landing. The wind hit her face with a pounding force and spun her hair wildly around, but she inhaled deeply, welcoming the cool, fresh air. A smile tugged at her lips as she closed her eyes, feeling the sun's warming rays. Hope was fully reborn. The Autobots must be alive.

Glass crunched behind her. She spun around to see Dylan slowly standing up from behind the counter. He looked around in stunned silence, his jaw hanging open. Then he picked up the gun that Sam had dropped earlier, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the elevator. The battle was only about to begin, and they both knew it.

The drone hit the pavement hard, but Sam hit harder. He groaned as he slowly stood, feeling pain shoot down his leg. But all was soon forgotten as he hobbled toward the downed drone and Carly stepped out. She was safe. She was unhurt. And they were together. Nothing else mattered.

"Sam," she said softly, wrapping him in a large hug, "you found me."

"I'd follow you anywhere," he replied, stroking her hair.

"We have to go back," Carly said, pulling away.

"What do you mean?"

"We have to get back up there, to the suite. Emma is still there."

"No, no, no," Sam shook his head. "I just got you down from there. Emma chose the Decepticons."

Carly's eyes got sad. "No, she didn't, Sam."

The other Autobots were arriving, a caravan of them with Optimus in the lead. Epps and his NEST friends hopped out as they pulled to a stop.

"Glad to see you still alive," Epps said, giving Sam a slap on the back.

"Sam," Carly said, her voice rising. He knew her tone well.

"Epps, is there any way we can get back up to the penthouse suite?" Sam asked slowly.

"What? You're crazy. Why would you want to go back up there?"

"Emma is still there. We thought that she had switched sides and chosen the Decepticons…but I guess not." Sam kept his head down and looked at Epps out of the top of his eyes. Carly might trust her now, but Sam was not easily persuaded, especially without knowing details.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…this is too much information at once. Emma is here? And she was helping the Decepticons?" Epps remembered Emma well. He was there in the desert of Qatar when she and Lennox first met. They were good friends, but he hadn't seen her or heard anything from her in over six months, since she and Lennox broke up and he left the Air Force.

"She was forced to. They were going to kill both her and the Colonel if she didn't cooperate," Carly said quickly, giving Sam a harsh look as she spoke. He immediately regretted not fully trusting his girlfriend…or his old friend. Bumblebee looked sad as well. He put his head in his hands, a heavy frown on his face.

Epps shook his head. "Look, man, even if she's still alive, there's nothing we can do to save her. That drone you were using is trash now. And the Decepticons know we're here. The best thing we can do is get to that pillar and shut this whole thing down."

Carly looked away, her eyes filling with tears. She couldn't believe after everything Emma had done to save her that she was just going to leave her new friend. But Epps was right. They needed to stop Sentinel. Sam wrapped a comforting arm around her, pulling her close, when something caught his attention on the ground close by.

"Hey, what is that? Is that us?"

* * *

><p>Will had never been so happy to see Epps. As soon as his face appeared on the camera, the Colonel knew something good had happened. Epps had made it into the city. The Autobots were alive. Sam and Carly were with them. And they now knew where to hit in the city. Will's adrenaline started to pump as he gathered his troops. They were finally going to strike back.<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

_I'm so sorry! I have not forgotten about Emma's story and you, my faithful reviewers. Although it is no excuse, I got somewhat caught up in the Hunger Games phenomenon and had to read all the books which took up absolutely all of my free time. But I am finished with them and immediately got back to writing! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!_

Each grip of his fingers pushed the glass deeper into her skin, but she could barely keep her footing, much less protest. Dylan drug her along with every step, across the bridge, shouting at the Decepticons that the Autobots were alive.

When he finally stopped at the base of a building to catch his breath, Emma yanked her arm away, cradling her hand. Blood ran down her fingertips and dropped to the pavement. She grimaced in pain.

"Emma, I-I'm sorry," Dylan stammered, looking down at the red droplets. He tried to grab her hand to take a closer look at it, but Emma turned away. "Let me see it."

Seeing no other choice and needing any kind of medical treatment, she reluctantly let him take her arm. He took off his suit jacket and tore the arm of it off and into shreds. Carefully, he cleaned the blood and picked out any shards of glass still left in her skin, then wrapped her hand with the cloth.

"Thank you," Emma said softly but quickly took her hand from his grasp and looked away.

"I'm really not a bad guy," Dylan said, frowning. "I hope, one day, you can understand I've only done the best with what I've been given. I inherited a client…nothing more."

Emma couldn't help but laugh, sarcasm rich in her voice. "Well, you've done a hell of a job. You've killed thousands of people and doomed the human race to be slaves for alien robots, rebuilding their planet in our atmosphere. Yeah, great job, Dylan."

"You should be thanking me," he replied, his face turning red with anger. "You are going to survive this because of me."

She wanted to protest, but shots overhead made her look up. Five men whizzed by in wing suits, flying through the sky. Decepticon drones followed them closely, firing at every turn. Although there was no way to know for sure, Emma knew it had to be Will and his NEST comrades. A smile spread across her face. Before she could watch for long, though, Dylan had yanked her arm and was dragging her away again.

* * *

><p>Will silently counted heads. Seventeen. Only 17 out of the original 32 men had made it.<p>

He gathered his gear, trying to keep his spirits up. His men were looking to him for motivation, for leadership. He couldn't show them any weakness.

"Alright, boys, let's make this trip worth it," he said, standing up. "For our brothers."

"For our brothers!" the soldiers rallied.

Colonel Lennox led them out, knowing more of them might die before the day was done.

* * *

><p>He shoved her behind a low concrete wall.<p>

"He's not after you, he's only after me!" Sam yelled, running away from her, trying to distract Starscream.

Carly could only huddle there, her knees drawn up to her chest. The ground shook underneath her as Starscream flailed about. She looked up and saw Sam flying through the air. He had shot at the Decepticon with a grappling hook directly into his left eye. They were both flying through the air, Sam unwilling attached, as Starscream tried to detach it from his retina.

She sat there helplessly, unable to do anything but watch. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw black-clothed figures running toward them and instantly recognized them as a NEST patrol. Colonel Lennox was leading them to the Decepticon. He had his gun raised, ready to fire.

"No!" Carly screamed out, lifting her arms to try to get their attention. She pointed as Lennox turned to look at her. "Sam is up there!"

Will lowered his gun as he saw the young man, tiny against the gigantic Decepticon, being thrown through the air. He grabbed hold of Sam as he came close and dug out his knife, trying to cut the rope.

"We have 30 seconds!" Sam shouted as Starscream's wild, blind movements flung them upwards once more.

"What?" Lennox hollered back, unable to get a good enough grip on the rope to cut it.

"You see that bomb?"

"What bomb?" Now they were being dragged along the pavement. Will struggled to keep hold of Sam.

"The bomb right there!"

"How much longer?" Again they were in the air, being thrown like dolls. Starscream flew higher and higher.

Finally, Lennox gripped the rope tightly and cut it. Just as they started to fall, there was a loud boom behind them. Will caught a glimpse of Starscream exploding, but his eyes were soon focused on the concrete rushing upwards to meet them.

And suddenly, he was laying on the hood of a car. Bumblebee had come out of nowhere and grabbed them in midair, transforming back into his Camaro form as bits of Starscream fell all around them. Lennox took a deep breath, his eyes open wide.

"Well, he's dead," Sam said matter-of-factly. He slid quickly off the car and ran to Carly. Lennox rolled slower off of Bumblebee, still trying to catch his breath, his hands on his knees. Maybe he was getting too old for this. Bumblebee transformed again into his robot form, gave them all a quick nod, and headed out to meet the other Autobots.

"Colonel." Carly was standing in front of him. She was nearly as tall as he was. He straightened up to look into her eyes. "The Decepticons have Emma." If anyone was going to be able to find her and bring her to safety, it would be Colonel Lennox. She had to try to get him to believe her.

She was scared he wouldn't even listen to her, and at first, she believed he wasn't. He couldn't look at her. It seemed every mention of Emma's name just hurt him more. He stared just past her head to the blank gray wall behind her, his eyes full of pain. But slowly, he met her gaze. And his eyes no longer looked as sad. Maybe a bit of hope. A lot of guilt. When she finished speaking, she exhaled deeply, waiting for him to say something. He opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, but no sound came out.

"Lennox?" Sam asked, leaning in slightly.

Will turned away from them. He adjusted the gun on his shoulder and looked at his men, who were still standing nearby.

"Well, we're not going to find her by standing here, are we?"

Carly looked over at Sam, a joyful smile on her face. Sam gave her hand a squeeze as they ran off.

* * *

><p>There was no way for Will to explain how he felt. Remorseful. Angry at himself. But also ecstatic. Elated beyond description. He was never so happy to be wrong. She was alive. He just KNEW it. And he was going to find her. He had to.<p>

He led his team with renewed energy. Although the sun was beginning to set and cast long rays down the streets, he navigated confidently through each one, keeping his eyes on the cupolas of the Jewelers' Building. There was only one place she could be if she was still being held by the Decepticons. And he couldn't get there fast enough.

* * *

><p>Dylan was still dragging her behind him. She didn't know where they were going, and it seemed as if he didn't know either. But as they rounded a corner, she was stunned to see several Autobots being held prisoner. Bumblebee, Que, Ratchet, and Dino all sat on their knees, their hands behind their heads. Soundwave and other Decepticons hovered nearby, their guns pointed at the Autobots.<p>

"What is this?" Dylan asked, walking between them. "You're keeping prisoners?"

Soundwave looked down at the small human, breathing deeply with a metallic rasp.

"You need to teach them about respect. This was all business, but now it's personal. Do you understand me?" Dylan continued. His voice was authoritative and cruel. Emma stood close by, cradling her hand. It was still throbbing from the cut and starting to bleed again. She turned her head slowly, searching for a good escape route, but there were Decepticons everywhere. She wouldn't get far.

Soundwave smiled. "I understand. No prisoners. Only trophies."

Emma had to look away as the Decepticons pulled Que up. She didn't know the older bot well. He had arrived after the others, but he was always kind and helpful. She started to cry, her throat feeling as though it would close with the sobs she was trying to choke back. Que pleaded for his life to no avail. Soundwave shot him before he could finish his sentence. They picked up Bumblebee next.

Emma looked over and saw Sam and Carly huddled in a car that had been turned over. They had the same looks on their faces. And she just couldn't take it anymore.

She had hurt her friends, betrayed herself and them, believed her Autobot companions to be dead, been forced to watch as evil conquered, and she had done absolutely NOTHING about any of it.

"Dylan, stop this!" she screamed out, rushing over to him.

He was walking away from her and didn't even turn around. She grabbed his arm, twirling him to face her with a strength she did not know she had. Dylan almost fell with the force of it. He looked at her, his eyes wide, his jaw clenched.

"Tell them to stop right now!"

Soundwave forced Bumblebee to the ground. She didn't have much time. In a last effort, she reached for the gun stuck in the back side of his pants. Dylan quickly pushed her away and grabbed for it himself. He swung it around and pointed the barrel directly between her eyes.

Emma felt her knees go weak. They almost buckled beneath her. Her breath caught in her chest. She couldn't move, couldn't even blink.

"Do you want to die? Huh?" Dylan asked crazily. "Do you want to die for _them_?"

She could hear the buzz of Soundwave's gun buzzing behind her. It was about to be over. She had lost anyway. Emma swallowed, inhaled and exhaled slowly, tasting her last bit of air. Her eyes met Dylan's squarely. She wasn't scared anymore.

"I would rather die for them than spend the rest of my life with you."

She waited for the gunshot. But it didn't come. Instead, Dylan's face changed from angry and hateful to…hurt. He seemed to deflate like she had just ripped out his heart. Maybe she had. It almost made her feel bad for him.

And then he wasn't looking at her anymore. His gaze had turned upwards. Above her. A long shadow fell over them. She started to look up, also. A large object was falling from the sky. It hit just behind her, breaking apart and shattering the cement. The ground rumbled with the impact. She started to crouch down, trying to protect herself in any way. Dylan lowered the gun, and she saw her chance. In an instant, she was running.

In the chaos, Bumblebee had gained the upper hand. He turned on his attackers, shooting and firing missiles. Ratchet and Dino were also free. More objects were falling. There were explosions and gunshots behind her, but she kept running. Each step further away was a step closer to freedom. As the ground kept shifting, however, she lost her footing. She tripped and fell, hitting the pavement hard. She looked up just in time to see an object directly over her block out the sun as it fell.


End file.
